ENEMO

Final Reports - Final Report - IEOM to Hungary for 2024 Municipal Elections

Final Report - IEOM to Hungary for 2024 Municipal Elections

30. Sep. 2024.

On 20 April 2024, the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) officially deployed an International Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Hungary, to observe the 9 June 2024 Municipal Elections. ENEMO accredited a total of six Core Team experts based in Budapest. The Mission was headed by Mr. Pierre Peytier. ENEMO additionally deployed eight long-term observers (LTOs) in four multinational teams throughout the country, based in Budapest, Szeged, Debrecen, and Pécs. On Election Day the mission conducted limited observation of the processes of opening of polling stations, voting, counting, and transfer of electoral materials.

The aim of the EOM was to improve the transparency of the electoral process, assess its integrity and compatibility with international standards for democratic elections and the Hungarian legislation, as well as provide - and advocate for - recommendations for potential areas of improvement. The mission has been monitoring and assessing the overall political and electoral environment, respect for the rights to elect and stand for election, conduct of election management bodies, campaigning, gender equity, voting and tabulation processes, electoral dispute resolutions and other crucial aspects of the process, based on international standards for democratic elections and the Hungarian legal framework.

Additionally in order to obtain comprehensive information, up until 26 June, ENEMO long-term observers and CT experts conducted 462 meetings, 149 with election management bodies, 51 with political parties, 97 with candidates, 40 with state officials, 42 with media, 41 with domestic civil society organizations and 43 with others, in addition to observing 18 campaign activities (meetings or rallies).

The EOM issued an Interim Report on 29 May and a Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions on 10 June following the day of voting (9 June). This Final Report is based on ENEMO’s findings from the pre-election period, Election Day and post-election developments. It contains 42 recommendations aiming at improving various shortcomings identified by ENEMO during the monitoring process. Recommendations are addressed to different stakeholders involved in elections.

ENEMO would like to express its gratitude to all the interlocutors of the EOM, including the election administration, civil society, international community, media and political entities, for their cooperation in the course of the international election observation mission.